Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Chan-Seung Lee]

[Mister Micawber]

.
These sentences suffer from terminal awkwardness, but the correct emboldenment is to attempt to prevent, because attempt takes the infinitive: I attempted to remove the cork.
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[buddhaheart]

My handbook for writers tells me you must use the full infinitive after �attempt�.

Unless in cases where the -ing form must be used, choose an infinitive to emphasize the hypothetical or speculative nature of things as compared to the more factual ones that actually happens or has happened with -ing form.